Our hike around the Cathance River Nature Preserve started with the discovery of a whole bunch of blackberry bushes. We stopped multiple times to pick and eat several large handfuls.
L., as usual, was collecting mica and "pretty" rocks for her collection. She even found some really nice quartz pieces as well.
We also found a geocache before deciding to make our way over to the river trails.
The kids explored the rocks by the river for a while before we hiked up a small hill. We didn't have a problem going up the hill's path but when we walked down the same path, Fino and G. ran into trouble.
L. and I were about 30 feet away from G. when she started screaming. Then Fino yelled at her to run and they both raced down the trail.
As Fino ran with G., he yelled back to me to find another way down the hill. I found another path and picked up L. who was hysterically crying because she was panicked and worried about her sister.
There really wasn't any way to totally escape the swarm of yellow jackets but L. and I avoided a lot more than G. and Fino did. Luckily L. had a coat on with a hood so I covered her up and ran down the trail with her in my arms and she managed to make it through without a sting.
I met up with Fino and G. about 1/4 mile down the trail and could tell they had been stung multiple times. There were still yellow jackets around but we needed G. to sit down because her legs started to really swell-up. Fino put her near the water so I could get some cool water on her while he dug out the first aid kit.
Several years ago a pharmacist had told me the most effective way to reduce the swelling and ease the pain of a bee sting is a paste of meat tenderizer and water. We've carried meat tenderizer in our emergency kit ever since and as weird as it sounds, it really does work.
One of G.'s legs with multiple stings covered by the paste we made. Looked totally weird but G. agreed that it didn't hurt as much with the paste on.
Because I was carrying L. in my arms and wearing a short sleeve shirt, I ended up with several yellow jackets in my shirt via the arm holes. Let me just tell you that getting stung under your arm and multiple times on your breast is not a pleasant experience. And I couldn't yell or complain about it because I really needed to calm the girls down. They were in a real state of hysterics and couldn't stop swinging their arms in the air.
I ended up providing some comic relief when I took my shirt off to shake out the remaining yellow jackets. As Fino was pulling out the stingers I tried to make it a joke that he was "being naughty" by stealing my shirt. Then he took off his shirt to shake out (both of us had still had yellow jackets in our shirts at that point) and I started whistling and oogling him. That got some giggles mixed with tears from the girls and they finally stopped jumping and swiping at the air.
We rubbed the meat tenderizer paste over everyone's stings. One was actually on Fino's ear and we made a joke that it was definitely a weird place to get stung. But then the kids started talking about boobs and they were laughing again after suggesting they get a picture of my stings (which btw, did not happen).
Fino took a few minutes to go back down the trail and lay some logs on the path to prevent others from disturbing the nest. He also took a couple of photos. I told him he was crazy to get close enough for a photo but thought it couldn't have been any worse than it already was. At least, he said, he didn't have to worry about them swarming all over G. again.
The nest is a sort of white color between the roots in the middle of the photo.
Since most of the nest was under the dirt, it is not easily seen unless you were looking for it.
When everyone was a little calmer we decided to head back to the car. G. was having a hard time walking but a lollipop from the emergency kit (another staple we always carry) made the pain not so bad. Along the way we spotted a big frog and stopped for a minute to watch him. Then we found more blackberries and ate our way down that part of the trail.
In retrospect I think this was just an unlucky break for us. We were walking on a clearly established path where many others had hiked on before us. And in all the years we have been hiking, with and without kids, we have never had a situation like this happen before.
The kids agreed with Fino and I on the drive home that the nature preserve was "really fun" until the yellow jacket attack and that we should visit another time.
"Yeah mom, during the winter when all the bees are gone," G. said from the back seat.
Fino and I couldn't agree more.
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